The Aquinas women's volleyball team picked up a pair of home victories on Wednesday (Oct. 5) at the Sturrus Center. AQ swept an overmatched Great Lakes Christian team in the afternoon before battling back and forth with conference foe Lawrence Tech in the evening showdown. The teams alternated 25-22 wins in the first four sets before the Saints pulled away for a 15-8 victory in the fifth frame.
 
With the pair of wins, Aquinas improves to 8-16 overall and 4-6 in WHAC play. AQ took less than an hour to put away Great Lakes Christian (0-14) by straight set scores of 25-16, 25-11, and 25-6. The final line score for the Aquinas-Lawrence Tech battle saw the Saints prevail 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 22-25, and 15-8. LTU drops to 10-12 on the year and 3-7 in league action.
 
Aquinas 3, Great Lakes Christian 0
 
The Saints made quick work of the NCCAA school from Lansing. Aquinas dominated the stat sheet to the tune of large advantages in kills (32-3), assists (30-3), aces (18-1), and blocks (5-2). AQ also led in digs (22-21) and hit .365, while limiting the Crusaders to a -.256 attack clip.
 
Claire Phillips recorded nine kills on 12 errorless attempts for a .750 hitting percentage, while Chloe Hogarth also added nine kills in 15 swings. Peyton Goschka tallied seven kills and four aces and Melissa Beachnau provided six kills and a pair of block assists.
 
Jordyn Carlyle served up seven aces, while adding eight assists and five digs. Kaylin Poole handed out 21 assists and recorded four blocks. Jennifer Johnson totaled eight digs and four aces.
 
Aquinas 3, Lawrence Tech 2
 
Incredibly, the set scores for the first four frames were all 25-22, with Aquinas winning the first and third stanzas and LTU taking the second and fourth sets. AQ held a 6-5 lead in the fifth set when Samee Teachworth put down a kill and the Blue Devils committed an attack error.
 
The Saints led 9-7 when Abbi Perkins and Brooke Nicholson posted consecutive kills; an LTU error made it 12-7 in AQ's favor. Aquinas closed out the two-plus hour victory with a Blue Devils error and back-to-back putaways from Nicholson and Teachworth for the 15-8 triumph.
 
Perkins posted 18 kills and three block assists, hitting .255 in the win. Nicholson tallied a rarely-seen double-double with 17 kills and 10 total blocks (two solo); she also hit .438 on her 32 swings. Ryleigh Blough provided 11 kills and three block assists as the third Saint with double-digit kills.
 
Cassie Susterich handed out 49 assists to go with her six kills (in just 13 attacks), six digs, and four block assists. Jenna Lee added six kills and three digs. Teachworth posted five kills, five digs, and was a part of three blocks. 
 
Johnson picked up a team-high 13 digs and served three aces. Julia Schweihofer added eight digs, Poole recorded seven pickups, and Carlyle posted four service aces and four digs.
 
The Saints now enjoy a nice nine-day break, as AQ will not play again until next Friday (Oct. 14) at Lourdes. Aquinas is not back in the Sturrus Center until the following Friday (Oct. 21) against Indiana Tech.